Romelu Lukaku captained Belgium to victory and made it three goals in two international appearances by hitting a brace, while Kalidou Koulibaly helped Senegal to a memorable victory over Brazil, but there was an upset for Kai Havertz and Germany.
Having scored a crucial goal in Belgium’s 1-1 draw with Austria on Saturday, Romelu Lukaku was at it again while captaining the side in a second European Championship qualifier, away at Estonia.
The striker opened the scoring with a quick double-salvo, netting twice in the space of three minutes late in the first half, extending his record overall haul for Belgium to 75 international goals.
He got his first in acrobatic style, volleying in Aster Vranckx’s outswinging delivery, before adding his second from another cross, meeting Arthur Theate’s ball with a confident header. Lukaku was greeted with a big hug from his manager Domenico Tedesco as he was substituted with his job done in the second half, before Johan Bakayoko made the final score 3-0 with a fine solo effort in the 90th minute.
Elsewhere in Euro qualifying, Joao Felix watched on from the substitutes’ bench as Cristiano Ronaldo scored in the 89th minute – on his 200th international appearance – to give Portugal a 1-0 win over 10-man Iceland.
Kalidou Koulibaly was part of a Senegal team which recorded a memorable 4-2 victory over Brazil in a friendly in Portugal. Things looked tough when Brazil took an early lead through Lucas Paqueta, but Habib Diallo equalised in the first half before the African side put in a stunning performance after the break.
A Marquinhos own goal gave Senegal the lead, which was then extended by Sadio Mane. The Brazilian defender made up for his error by pulling one back, making for a nervous finale as Koulibaly and Co held on to their narrow advantage, but they could finally celebrate their win when Mane scored a second from the penalty spot deep into injury time to put the result beyond doubt.
It was a disappointing evening for Kai Havertz and Germany, as they hosted Colombia in a friendly. The Chelsea forward started as the main striker but had little to work with, especially during a first half which saw the home side fail to register a shot. Colombia then took a deserved lead 10 minutes into the second half, but Havertz came closest to responding soon afterwards, only to see his effort blocked.
Havertz was substituted for Joshua Kimmich with just over 10 minutes left on the clock, but less than two minutes later his replacement handled in the box, allowing former Blues winger Juan Cuadrado to make it 2-0 from the penalty spot and secure Colombia’s first-ever win over Germany.
There was also European Championship qualifying action at Under-21 level on Tuesday evening, with Chelsea goalkeeper Eddie Beach helping Wales open their campaign with a dramatic 2-2 draw away in Denmark, in a game which saw three penalties and two red cards.
The first of those penalties went against Beach, as he was unable to prevent the home side taking the lead from 12 yards, but after a Denmark defender cleared off the line with his hand – for which he was sent off – Wales equalised with a spot kick of their own through Rubin Colwill. The same player then put the Welsh ahead from another penalty, but some poor marking allowed Denmark to level from a corner and that was the way it finished, despite the home side ending the game with nine men.